Road of the Warrior
by Domon Kasshu
Summary: An old-time fanfic which deals with the return of Dr. Wily in the time of Mega Man X
1. Prelude - The Arrival

Road of the Warrior, Prelude

Road of the Warrior  
Prelude-The Arrival

    _Author's Note: I can't believe I'm actually posting this. This is the first fanfic I widely posted online, and it appears here in its original form, circa 1996, without any editing. The crappy ending remains, as does the substandard writing. For some reason, this fic remains popular with a few folks. While I'm going to post the full story of this fic's origin on my page, a few notes. Number one, Phaelin is a character from Emejre who appears in this fic. Mandi Paugh liked the character so much, she started using the name online. Second, I love Kor. Kor is getting a revamp to go in my original series work. Third, certain plot elements from this fic appear in Mega Man X5. Not accusing Capcom of anything, just saying that I didn't take them from there. =p     With that... one with the crap.
_

    Sigma, former leader of the Maverick Hunters, brooded before his new subjects. He looked at the many Reploids, each bowing before him. It was, as he's felt so suddenly, his destiny. Their attention focused on him, as it should be...     As if on cue, something so spectacular happened as to divert attention from the warlord. A large blue portal appeared above them, and out flew a single Reploid. He was obviously heavily damaged, but he needed help. Sigma would not deny any Reploid assistance, especially one who had made such a spectacular entrance.     "Are you alright, friend?" Sigma said, walking over.     "Wh...where am I?" the Reploid said, looking up. From underneath his smoldering helmet, a red eye flashed.     "Among friends." Sigma said. Who are you?"     "I...can't remember." the Reploid replied.     Sigma helped him to his feet, then touched his back. Instantly, Sigma was flooded with the heavily damaged memory banks of the robot. He had obviously been in some great battle. And he hadn't come out on the winning side.     "I have been able to salvage little, friend. But I did recover your name...Vile."     "Thank you." Vile said.     "Come, we will help you." Sigma said, then stop dead in his tracks. The insignia on his shoulder was unmistakable, though it had been faded for what seemed like ages. The robot had been a Maverick Hunter.     "You are a..."     Vile looked at the insignia and laughed. "I remember that. A symbol from more foolish days. I trust you can remove it?"     Sigma grinned in reply. "Most certainly."


	2. Part One - Out of the Past

Road of the Warrior, Part One

Part One-Out of the Past

    "This is Vector Phi, with this special report for RNN. Yet another attack from the Mavericks has begun here in downtown Monsteropolis. More of the so-called 'X-Hunters', led by Spark Mandrill, are striking the downtown power supply!"     Vector Phi had always wanted more out of his existance. He often imagined himself in the excitement of the chase, being a Maverick Hunter. But he had been programmed to broadcast the news. He'd won several awards, covering the Doppler Town crisis. However, he was tired of waiting for X and the others to save the day. But he had no other choice.     "The Maverick Hunter is dispatching X and Zero!" a newsman cried.     It figures, Vector thought. Always X and Zero. They seemed to be the only Maverick Hunters able to keep from turning to Sigma's side and living to talk about it. He'd always wanted to be a part of something earth shattering. Something that would change the world forever.     Then the Whistle came.     It had such a beautiful melody. It played in the ears of Vector Phi, and he looked around to see the source of it.     "Did we get that on audio?" Vector asked.     "Get what?" the crew asked.     "The Whistle!"     "What Whistle?"     "The one..." Vector began.     "Forget the whistle...get THAT!"     Vector spun around to see a new robot jumped down in front of the X-Hunters. He was small-almost four feet. It almost looked comical. This would at least be good for the blooper reel. Mandrill would destroy the upstart and be done with it. His grey and maroon armor sparkled in the sunlight, and a long scarf floated behind him.     "Get out of our way!" Mandrill demanded in his thick accent.     "Not on your life." the other robot replied. Mandrill threw aside the crate he was carrying and readied his electrical attack. Just as Vector had predicted. Mandrill fired, and the cameras continued to roll.     They caught the small robot dodging the blast.     "Incredible!" Vector said, then turned back to the camera. "It appears a new Maverick Hunter has appeared to challenge the X-Hunters!"     "Nice shot." the robot said, "But now it's my turn!" The robot fired two shots from his cannon, tiny compared to those of X or Zero. However, they destroyed Wheel Gator and Sting Chameleon in one shot.     "Looks like we're all alone now." the robot said with a grin.     "I will destroy you!" Mandrill said, then jumped onto the wall of the building. The new robot dodged his dive with ease.     "Promises, promises. When will the cycle of dishonesty end?"     "You talk..." Mandrill began.     "Mandrill, return to base!" a voice crackled over his comm link.     "But..."      "No excuses! We've already lost two warriors."      "Very well." Mandrill said. He looked up to see his enemy waiting, with his arms crossed.      "Aw, you gotta go home already?" he said, then pointed his cannon. "I'm afraid you might be a little late!"      Mandrill barely dodged the robot's attack. "This isn't over yet!"      "Could have fooled me!"      Mandrill growled as he jumped away. He had never been so humiliated, but he was certain he would get another chance.      "He did it!" Vector screamed into his headset. "The newcomer defeated the X-Hunters!"      The robot then noticed the cameras. He waved to them.      "Hi mom...er, sis. See, told you I'd be home in time for dinner. Oh, by the way...let them all know Breakman's back in town!" With that, Breakman teleported away.      "Cut." Vector said, then grinned. "Breakman..." he said to himself. It beared looking into. He might finally have his scoop after all. 

     "What?" X said, his voice filled with shock, and perhaps, Vector thought, a little embarrassment.      "Yeah, someone who calls himself Breakman." Vector said. "Does the name mean anything to you?"      "No." Zero answered. "How about you, X?"      "Nothing."      "Maybe this will help." Vector said, then punched up the video clips on the monitor. X watched intently as the robot skillfully manuevered his way around the X-Hunters.      "These guys gave us a lot of trouble," Zero said, "But he handles them like they're target holos."      "I'm worried. We don't know Breakman's MO. He could be dangerous."      "Is that a legitimate guess, X," Vector said with a sinister grin, "Or are you worried someone else is going to steal your headlines?"      "And you people ask why I never do interviews." X shot back. "C'mon Zero, we've got work to do."      "Oh, by the way X, I do know something else about the name." Vector said as the two walked away. "We don't know what it means, but the name Breakman appears several times in the pieces of history we put together after the Great War."      X grinned. "Thanks Vector. You might just get that interview after all."

     "The Great War?" Zero asked. "What could the mystery man have to do with it?"      "Doctor Cain's archeaological digs around that area seemed to indicate a lot about the Great War. It seems that three robots tried to stop the final advance of the Tyrant. Maybe Breakman is one of them." X said, typing quickly on the computer, "But he could just as easily be one of the Tyrant's war machines."      "You actually believe that myth about robots existing 500 years ago?"      "Doctor Light created me. It's entirely possible he did that from existing designs. Maybe after the Great War ended."      "Humans living on the Earth after the Great War? Now I KNOW you're losing it, gramps."      "Just remember," X shot back without looking up, "Without this old timer, you wouldn't exist."      "I have to remember. You won't let me forget."      "When could he have done the thirty years of testing on the others? Heck, you were sitting in that warehouse for..."      "Don't remind me, Zero. I don't like to think about it." X then looked over the files Light had included with his capsule. "Maybe there was another."      "Maybe." Zero replied. "One thing's for sure, gramps, Light was WAY ahead of his time."     "I know. I just wonder how far ahead he was of it...and us."      With that, a computer alert went off.      "Warning-Advance sensors detect presence of foriegn entity in computer systems. Systems infected with CIGMA virus."      "X, we gotta flush the systems, before the CIGMA virus..."      "It's too late, Zero." a voice said from behind. The two spun around to see their fellow hunter Plasma lifting her cannon armor. "Sigma lives once more!"


	3. Part Two - An Omen

Road of the Warrior, Part Two

Part Two-An Omen

    "I thought you said Doppler's anti-virus would take care of Sigma for good!" X cried.      "Well geez, I'd say it's obvious he was backed up!" Zero shot back.     Plasma Sigma smiled with delight at the havok he/she had caused. He didn't care too much for the idea of possessing a female robot, but beggars couldn't be chosers. Besides, the body was suprisingly powerful. Plasma's old eyes had transformed-Now the blue eyes and the red daggers below them appeared, the telltale sign of the CIGMA virus.      "What do you want Sigma?" X asked.      "Power. The world in his hands. Things like that." Zero quipped.     Sigma smirked. "I'm not a ruler, my dear boy. I am a harbinger. Not unlike yourself."     "I'm not going to follow the path programmed me, Sigma. I can make my own decisions."      "Very well. Then you shall die with your friend!"      Instantly, Sigma charged at the two, two claws appearing from either hand. Both of the Maverick Hunters dodged the attack, and Sigma quickly spun around to begin the next round of attack. X fired a shot, trying to only wound the body, but Sigma dodged it with ease.      "Warning:Security perimeter breached. Detecting Ride Armor-Class Unknown." the computer said to no one.      Zero drew his beam sabre and charged at Sigma. He leaped into the air, then brought down the sabre as he landed. Sigma's right arm landed on the floor with a loud clunk.      "Zero, be careful! Plasma's..."      "Dead. Nothing can survive infection with the CIGMA virus."      "Quite right. Not even you two..."     Sigma was cut off as the wall to the compound crumbled. Dust rose high into the air, and X and Zero were temporarily blinded. Two laser blasts forced them to their knees. Sigma looked up to see a small red light shining through the dust.      "Exquisite timing, Vile."      "Interesting new host, chief." Vile said, snickering.      "Shut up and get us out of here."      "What about those two?" As if on cue, X and Zero began firing at the two robots. "Well, that answers my question. Let's move."      "Don't let them get away!" X said, jumping to his feet.      "Sorry old timer," Zero replied, "But Vile's blast fused my knee joint. I'm gonna need repairs first."      "Alright." X said, then looked out at the hole Vile's armor had made. Moving at top speed far beyond the base, Sigma returned the glare. Both swore yet again that the end was near. 

     Vector Phi couldn't concentrate on his assignments. Ever since he'd video taped the appearance of the mysterious Break Man, something was gnawing at him. More often than not, it was that Whistle. He couldn't stand to deactivate himself for recharging-he had to solve the mystery that beckoned to him.      It was then a knock came on the door. Vector walked over, pressed the unlock code, and the door slid open. Outside stood a short girl with long blonde hair, tied into a pony tail. He could tell from her heat signatures that she was a Reploid.      "Can I help you?" he asked.      "Yes." the girl replied. "My name is Phaelin. I wanted to talk to you about the newscast you did the other day. The one about Break Man."      "I don't have any updates." Vector said. It figured. She was a news hound.      "I know you don't. The point is, I do." Phaelin said with a grin. "Actually, I was going to offer you an exclusive interview with Break Man."      Vector's eyes widened. "You gotta be kidding me!"      Phaelin's blonde eyes narrowed. "On something this serious, Mr. Phi, I do not kid around."      "When?"      "Whenever you like. Now, if that would suit you."      "Well, I'd love to, but I need to recharge..."      "We have a charging console at our home base. Quite nice one, actually. Mr. Phi, it's very important this interview comes out now. Things are happening-things which you're not aware of. Things that will reshape the world you know."      "The story of the century, I'm sure." 

     "Uh huh. Well, let me grab my equipment and we'll go see Break Man." he re-entered his home, and began throwing his equipment into a bag.      "Now, Miss Phaelin, how exactly is it you know Break Man, anyway?"      "He's my brother."      "Reploids don't have brothers and sisters."      "Not now." Phaelin shot back.      "But they did in the good old days, is that it?" Vector said.      "Yes." Phaelin replied, and tears welled up in her eyes. "Sometimes, I would give anything to go back to them." 

     Doctor Christopher Cain had arrived late in life. He was in his mid seventies when he had first discovered the capsule with Mega Man X inside of it. That propelled him to fame and fortune. Now, a long five years later, Cain had managed to remain famous and rich on the basis of that new discovery, despite the fact that he had never advanced beyond it.      Cain was a jack of all trades, and had he never found X, he would have been a master of none. Archaeologist, roboticist, astronomer, xenobiologist, historian-He was trained in many fields, thanks to his constantly shifting majors in college. When he finally graduated, with a degree in archaeology, the Great War had created a tremendous interest in the field. Of course, Cain was not one to go against the flow. He'd failed tremendously, and held odd jobs around the city- until he found the lab site.      Now, Cain was an international celebrity. Everyone wanted to claim they knew him. He was a consultant to powerful companies and even the government. He went on talk shows talking about X and Zero and the others-probably because the Maverick Hunters despised the things.      Of course, none of that mattered right now. The last few days had presented him with several problems. The most obvious was the infiltration of the CIGMA virus easily into the systems of Maverick Hunter base. He had to research Doctor Doppler's antivirus program, hoping it would provide a way to keep the virus out of all global computer systems. Less important, and more difficult, was the mystery Break Man presented.      Break Man. He'd heard the name several times in the archaeology from the Great War. The most probable reason was that the Reploid behind the mask had heard the name, and decided to use it for his own. However, that didn't explain how he was able to easily defeat three of Sigma's most powerful Mavericks. The more disturbing excuse was obvious-Break Man was a machine that had somehow survived the Great War.      Impossible, he knew. The electro-magnetic pulse generated by the nuclear explosion that had rendered the Earth uninhabitable for five hundred years would have deactivated him. Yet there he was. He shouldn't exist, but he did.      "Anti virus sequencing complete. CIGMA virus breaks in 1.4 hours."      "Let's try this again." Cain said, inputing the sequence once more, changing some of the variables. The anti-virus Doppler had created had apparently destroyed Sigma, but Cain theorized the virus were linked to a master network system. The frightening thing was, if that were true, then the virus would learn a way around the old anti virus. He was wrong about that, he decided. He had to be.      Break Man, he said again to himself. It took him back to the old days as a student. The names were so crystal clear-the Tyrant, Break Man, Roll, Bass, Gamma, Enker, Tango. And then the hero, the one Cain had named his greatest discovery after-Mega Man. He began to ask himself, if Break Man had returned, could the others?      "Meow."      Cain spun to see a small robotic cat purring at his feet. It was green and grey, a cute little creature. It jumped into Cain's lap and rubbed its head against his chest. Cain petted him in return. 

     "It's Tango." Cain spun around to see the short maroon and grey robot behind him, a robotic dog sitting at his side. "This is Rush, and, though you may already know, I'm Break Man."      "You!" Cain said, jumping to his feet. Tango scrambled to avoid falling flat on the floor. "I have so many questions to ask you..."      "All in good time, Doctor. My question first-You found the capsules, didn't you?"      "Capsules? There was only one!"      "No, there were two. Both in the lab."      "My God." Cain said suddenly. "There was a break in at the lab site, but we assumed nothing was taken..."      "Also, a program was taken secretly from the lab. If the two of them are lose in this time, it's only a matter of time before we're plunged into the Second Great War."      "I'll contact X and Zero." Cain said.      "Hurry." Break Man replied. "If the program and the robot in the second capsule come together, they'll be able to find and reactivate Gamma."      "What's Gamma?"      "Trust me," Break Man said grimly, "You don't want to find out."


	4. Part Three - Second Chances

Road of the Warrior, Part Three

Part Three-Second Chances

    "So, where's the mystery man?" Vector said, a wry grin on his face.     "He's not here." Phaelin shot back.      "What?"      "Don't tell me you've never told a lie to get what you want, Vector." Phaelin smiled, then sat down in a chair. A large cybernetic panther walked to her side, and she petted him. A second later, she transformed. She was taller now, and long white hair replaced the yellow. A strange feeling, but Vector had to admit, she was even more attractive now.      "Maybe so," Vector said, trying hard to maintain his composure, "But I was expecting the story of the century."      "And you'll get it, Vector!" Phaelin said, almost in annoyance.      "Why the disguise?"      "I had no idea how much you knew about the Great War. I figured I could disguise myself as one of the heroes in case you'd discovered more."      "Uh huh." Vector replied. He had always hated people who twisted the truth to manipulate people.      "Sit, please." Phaelin said. Vector turned and looked at the seat she offered him suspiciously. "I have a hand scanner, if you'd like to use it." Embarrassed, Vector took the seat. The panther paced towards him and, after a second, fell in a heap at his feet.      "He likes you." Phaelin said. "I'm a little suprised."      "Doesn't like strangers?"      "Never. Well, almost never."      "So," Vector said, petting the large cat, "What's this story that's even bigger than Break Man."      "What I'm about to tell you few others know. On the night Doctor Cain discovered Mega Man X, he was forced to leave a hastily created security field around the site. Unknown to him, two items were stolen from the site. One was a computer file. The other was a second security capsule."      "Okay. So?"      "The program resurfaced only a few months after X was released. It was designed as a cleansing program, a heavily contagious virus controlled by a well hidden central network computer.      "Cleansing? What was it supposed to clean?"      "Humanity's influence on the machines. Doctor Light was able to contain it before it caused any problems. The first person infected by this virus was a Reploid. With his self determination and emotions, the Reploid was not only able to repel the virus, but he overpowered it and emplanted his systems in the home system. Thus, the CIGMA virus was born."      "You mean Light created that monster?"      "In a matter of speaking, yes." Phaelin said. "However, he had no idea what could have happened. The other item, a capsule like the one X was in, was never found."      "Let me guess-Break Man."      "Wrong. The capsule contained the greatest threat to world peace more than five hundred years ago. Light captured him and reprogrammed him. However, we have no idea what happened to that capsule. The robot inside was once known as Bass."      The panther at Vector's feet whimpered. Vector petted him again.      "Treble was once Bass's partner. However, he was alone for a hundred years. I took pity on him and adopted him. He's quite nice now, actually."     "So, if Bass was reprogrammed..."      "We don't know if it was finished. If Light's EMP shields failed, the work might not have been done. And that would mean Bass would be on the lose again."      "So, what does Bass look like?"      "We don't know. Light redesigned him. He could be anyone-or anything. Bass's last form also had a shape shifting power, so that could complicate matters."      "Alright. Sounds interesting..." "There's more." Phaelin said.      "I'd love to hear it."      "And I'd love to tell it to you," she said with a grin, "But I think all of us could use a recharge."      Though the story fascinated Vector, he needed that energy. He quickly put down all of his recording equipment and followed Phaelin into the recharge chamber. 

     "Lord Sigma has returned!" Vile proclaimed as he walked off the transport. Behind him, the tall-and noticeably female-form of Sigma strolled down. She smiled as she looked at all of the loyal Reploids who bowed before her. Little had changed.      A wolf whistle from the back of the crowd pierced the silence.      "Hey boss," Byte said, "I like the new look!"      "I never thought I'd see the day we had a Swiss robot leading us." Bit added.      Sigma laughed. It had been too long since she'd last heard the sarcasm of the Nightmare Police. Except for perhaps Vile, the two robots were her best friends. They were fine warriors, but even more deadly with their words.      "Nice to see you two again." Sigma said simply.      "Hey, Sigs," Bit said with a fiendishly sarcastic tone, "What are you gonna be doing after we crush the humans?"      "Could we interest you in recharge and a holoflick?" Byte chimed in.      "You guys are twisted." Vile said, though he himself had a hard time believing the robot in front of him was his honored leader.      "We know."      "That's our charm."      "Well, getting serious for a moment, what's this I heard about a new Maverick Hunter?" Sigma asked.      "He's called Break Man." Vile then pointed to a Reploid across the room who quickly looked away. "Spark Mandrill was the only one to survive."      Sigma walked over to the robot. Mandrill continued to look away, terrifed to face his master's wrath.      "Tell me everything."      "He came out of nowhere. He easily destroyed two of the others. He dodged my attacks so easily...I failed you, master."      Sigma put her arm on Mandrill's shoulder. "Mandrill, we're just glad you made it back in one piece. Don't blame yourself-You tried to save them."      "I know. It's just..."      "It's just nothing, Mandrill. I ask nothing more than your best. We'll repay this Break Man for each noble Reploid he slaughters."      Mandrill smiled, and faced his master for the first time. He immediately did a double take, looking carefully over her.      "You've changed, boss."      Sigma dropped her head down. "I gotta find a new host." 

     "Where am I?" the robot murmered as he raised his head.      "Among friends." a blur in front of him said.      "The last thing I remember..."      "Don't worry about it." the blur said again. He had no choice but to trust it. If he meant to destroy him, he would easily have done it by now.      "You were mostly intact, except for some minor decay. We replaced the circuits, you're as good as new. Maybe even better."      "Great. So, can you fix my optics?"      "Oh!" the blur said. He felt the person adjusting a few wires. Everything came into view. He looked over to see an elderly human working over him. It wasn't the one who used to do it, that was certain. He was far too kind.      "How is he?" another voice asked. The robot spun his head to see, at long last, a familiar face. Though not one he expected.      "You're Mega Man's sister, Roll, aren't you?"      "That's right, Enker. And you're in my debt, so I expect you to not attack immediately."      "No problem." Enker replied, then turned to the blur. "And who are you?"      "Doctor Cain." the man replied. "I have to admit, I'm impressed. You're far more advanced than anything I've ever seen before."      "I'm full of suprises." Enker said, then jumped off the work table. "So, why are you helping me? Why didn't Wily help me?"      "Enker," Roll said, "There's something you need to know. You've been sitting in the remains of Skull Fortress, almost half a mile underneath the surface, for five hundred years."      "What?!?"      "I hate to break it to you like that. Wily's been dead, the Earth was a dead world until almost a hundred years ago, because of Wily's weapons, and we only now found you."      "Who won?"      "No one. That's the point, Enker. We want you to join us."      "Join what?" Enker asked suspiciously.      "All of the robots in this world are organized into different groups. Rebels, hunters, all sorts of things. I think all of the old guard should come together."      "So, I'd work with Mega Man then?"      Roll was silent for a moment. Then she ran out of the room, leaving Enker thoroughly confused.


	5. Part Four - Lazarus

Road of the Warrior, Part Four

Part Four-Lazarus

     "Are you certain about this Shocker?" Sigma asked, annoyed.      "Positive. Doctor Cain unearthed the site only a few hours ago. I was able to...er, disable the archbots and claim the site for our own." Shocker replied. He was the newest of Sigma's lieutenants, and he had often shown how green he truely was. However, now he had something his master would certainly be interested in. He brushed off the dirt around one of the panels, revealing a symbol that made Sigma's eyes widen.      "The symbol of the Tyrant!" he cried.     "Exactly. This is Skull Palace. From here, he ruled the world...and, when it suited him, he destroyed it."      "The Tyrant, they called him." Sigma said as he and his small contingent of Reploids walked into the remains. "He tried to bring about the mechanical age. He is the greatest martyr for our cause, even if he was a carbon."      "Well spoken, m'lord." Vile said.     "Well spoken indeed." a voice came from in front of them. In the dark, a bright light shone. They turned their eyes away for only a second, but then looked forward. There stood three robots, small by comparison to the Reploids, but each deadly looking. One had a large light on the top of his head. Another was smaller, this one blue and gold, with a large cannon on his arm. The last one was a massive red, yellow and black robot, who spoke to them once again.      "You have come here to help us?" he asked.      "Perhaps." Sigma replied. "Who are you?"     "I am called Guts Man. This is Flash Man, and this Bright Man. We have waited for others to come and help us. A long five hundred year wait."      "The Great War..." Shocker said under his breath.      "A long time, indeed. What sort of help do you require?" Sigma asked.      "We wish to know if it is safe on the outside. Has..."      "Yes. The after effects of the bomb are long gone."      "Excellent." Guts Man said with a grin. "You are like us. Come, you must be witnesses."     "To what?" Shocker asked.      Guts Man laughed. "You shall see. Come, Lazarus awaits."      The Reploids followed without question. As soon as they left, Mega Man X and Zero came out of the shadows.     "How'd you know this would happen, gramps?" Zero asked.      "With Doctor Cain missing and me hearing about this site, I knew Sigma would be interested. C'mon, let's stop them." 

     "Lazarus?" Vile asked as they walked into the huge chamber.      "Indeed." Guts Man replied. The lights suddenly sparked to life, revealing several capsules with robots inside. Shocker walked over to one and touched it. Within seconds, he had all the material data.     "EMP shielding." he said.      "Yes. All of us tried to make it back here." However, when the EMP hit, the circuits that were supposed to reactivate us failed. Until the archaeologists came and restored power. Myself and my two brothers were activated and saw to the repairs of the other circuits. After, of course, a more pressing duty."      "Sorry, but I'm afraid that will have to wait too!"     "X and Zero." Sigma said, spinning around. "Why am I not suprised?"      In reply, X and Zero fired their cannons at the Reploids. Sigma staggered back as a direct hit impacted.      "I've been waiting for this, X!" Vile cried, and fired his cannon. X leaped into the air, dodging the blast, then sprung off the wall behind him and tackled Vile. He jumped back, poised to strike again. Suddenly, however, the capsule behind him opened and a large sheer sliced through his arm. Easily, the arm with his MegaBuster was sliced off.      "X!" Zero cried then jumped to his friend's side. By the time he arrived, more capsules were opening, each one of the robots coming out firing at X. In fact, none of them seemed to be targeting him.     "Zero," X said beneath the hail of fire, "Get out of here!"      "No way!" Zero shot back. "I'm not abandoning you, geez!" "I hate to do this, but I've got no choice." X then reached up with his good hand and activated Zero's emergency transporter.      "You bas..." Zero began, but quickly disappeared. X closed his eyes as his systems registered more and more damage. These robots were more powerful than anything he'd ever seen. Sigma smiled as X was pummelled.     "Stop at once!"      With the voice, all of the robots stopped firing. Sigma looked at all of them, annoyed.      "Why did you stop? Destroy X or I'll..."     One of the robots, obviously designed after the knights of old, reared back his mace. He targeted one of Sigma's lieutenants, Agile, and fired. The mace ball ripped through him, totally destroyed him.      "Or you'll do what?" Guts Man asked. The Mavericks turned to him. Beside him walked a man in a grey cloak. He drew it back, revealing slicked back black hair and a neatly trimmed goatee.      "From now on," the man said with a grin, "All of you Mavericks will be doing as I say."     "And who are you to command us?" Sigma demanded.      "I," the man said with his German accent, "am Doctor Albert Wily."      With that, all of the Mavericks dropped to their knees.     "That's better." 

     "While you are scrap metal compared to my old enemy, I have always wanted to destroy some version of my old foe." Wily said with a grin. "You're close enough."      "Go ahead. The other Hunters will avenge me."     "They can try. My robots are far more advanced than Cain's Reploids. You see, I hate to disillusion you, X, but Doctor Light's body was so devastated by the radiation poisoning from my bomb, he had no time to rebuild you properly. You, X, are nothing more than a hobbled collection of substandard parts. And all of your little playmates are exactly the same. With the facilities Sigma can provide me, and all of my designs, it will be child's play to conquer this world. I knew exactly how long it would take for that bomb to be dissipate.      "That's why I leaked my plans to Light. I knew he would evacuate the planet, and he would remain here, trying to fix things until the bitter end. I was able to send one of my robots to wipe all the data from his computers. With his lab in shambles, he was only able to reconstruct his finest creation with technology far below his old standards.      "By the time the nuclear bomb's damage had been undone, I knew the Lazarus Chamber would restore my body from the damage it received, as well as reverse my age to an acceptable level. What would be the point of taking over the world if I couldn't enjoy it for very long?"     "Five hundred years?" X asked.      "Immortality has a price," Wily said, "And besides, it took a while to recover properly from a large hole someone had planted in my chest."      "It doesn't matter. We can stop you..."     "I'm certain you can try." Wily shot back. "Or the others can. Your time, though, is up. Guts Man, you may have the honors."      X refused to close his eyes this time. He would meet his fate bravely. He felt Gutsman's fists crushing his body, and more damage registering. He knew he was about to be destroyed. He was silent, not wanting to give Wily or Sigma the satisfaction of hearing him cry out.      "Aaargh!" Guts Man cried out as the blast ripped through him.      "You!" Wily cried. "But how could you..."     "I might ask how you're still alive." the robot shot back. He leaped over to X and grabbed him. His optics detected the black and orange blob, but he had no idea who it was or why he was helping him. He seemed to be the same size as Break Man, but it certainly wasn't him.      A blast came from the ground. Much to X's suprise, the robot swung him in front of it. His systems began shorting out one by one, and then all went black.      The robot knew X was gone. But he had been told that would be for the best. After all, they only needed his memory circuits. With that taken care of, he teleported away.


	6. Part Five - Alter Egos

Road of the Warrior, Part Five

Part Five-Alter Ego

    Boss Grissom looked over his bountiful meal with considerable pleasure. Grissom was not a small man by any stretch of the imagination, and he enjoyed these feasts at the citizens of Monsteropolis's expense. Of course, certain precautions had to be taken. He gestured to the red headed Reploid beside him.     "Beta, taste this." Grissom said with a smile, "I wouldn't want to be hurt."     "We could only be so lucky." Beta said in a low voice, then tasted each and every course in the man's meal, scanning it for any trace of poison. Unfortunately for her, they were all fine. She nodded, and Grissom began to assault the food around him. First the potatoes, then the bacon, then the biscuits. He then turned his attention to a large piece of chicken in front of him. He reached for it with a large smile. Just as his pudgy hands reached his treasure, another hand came down in front of it.     "What is the meaning of this?" Grissom said, jumping to his feet with considerable difficulty. The face he came to meet made him scream.     One eye was human-like, but the other was a large red circle. Portions of the pseudo flesh around it had been torn away, revealing the gears underneath. Another portion was missing near his mouth-one half of it was gone, leaving only a skeletal grin His red armor shone in the light of the table,casting an eerie glow across the spectral face of his visitor.     "Well well, if it isn't Boss Hoag." the Reploid said in a mechanized voice, then turned to one of the guards. "You must be Roscoe."     "K...K...Kor, I didn't mean to be so rude to you..."     "Silence." Kor demanded. "There have been a number of...events recently that disturb me. The appearance of this Break Man character, Doctor Cain's new excavation site, and the X- Hunters have been far too quiet lately."     "Sir, I have had nothing..."     "I don't recall asking you anything yet." Grissom was silent again.     "There are even rumors something's happened to Mega Man X. I'll tell you this right now Grissom-If anything happened to X, and I find out about it over the news..."     "Shadoo, you should thank the gentleman for his efforts." Kor said. With that, the black and green Reploid lifted the guard to his feet, then reached for the radio cable sticking out of his neck. He touched it, and smoke began to rise from the area. The guard convulsed violently for only a few seconds, then fell to the ground.     "Now now," Kor said, returning his glare to Grissom, "That wasn't a nice thing to do. I hate to end a productive partnership, but this is what the carbons say is the fat lady's number. Excuse me, miss Beta, would you care to join us?"     "Sure." Beta said, and smirked at Grissom as she walked by and took Kor's arm.     "Surgeon," Kor called out, and the stainless steel robot walked forward, "This gentleman needs a little plastic surgery. See to it."     "With pleasure." Surgeon replied, and walked menacingly towards Grissom. 

    "We have to help him!" Zero said, and pounded the desk of the General Director of Maverick Hunter.     Binary could only look at Zero with sympathy. "I'm sorry Zero, but without Doctor Cain to give the okay, I can't let you run off on something this dangerous."     "But X is out there!"     "He knew the risks. And he would understand this."     "But it's not right..."     "I know you were his friend. But we don't know what Sigma has on his side. I can't let you run the entire Hunter force on what could be a suicide mission." Binary then looked at his monitor. "Explain to me again why X is being pummelled, but there's not a scratch on you."     "I can't explain it, sir." Zero replied, looking at the floor.     "Zero, we're not accusing you of anything. You're one of the most loyal hunters. But we need to know everything we can."     "I can only guess it had to do with Sigma's obsession with me." Zero said.     "Alright, now, who is this?" Binary said, pointing at a small image at the back of the screen. "Enhance 500%."     Zero looked, and saw it. A man behind all the robots, in a grey robe. He was definately human, but who was he?     "I have no idea, sir."     "Thank you." Binary said. Zero began to walk away.     "Zero, don't blame yourself. X was my friend too. I'll miss him if he is gone. But now we have to be strong."     "Yes sir." Zero said, then left the room.     "Computer," Binary said, "Run recorder comparison of this file and File 47318."     "Systems match." the computer voice said. "Subjects in Maverick Hunter recorder-Zero and in File codenamed Breakman outperform current Reploid technology by 750%."     "My God." Binary said. If Sigma had that kind of power, nothing could stop him. They could only hope Break Man would be able to help them...if he truely was on their side.     But he kept looking back at the man in the cloak, wondering his part in all of this. And then, as they had for the last few hours, they went back to Mega Man X, being pummelled by the Mavericks. He knew he would never see his best soldier again. 

    "Sis?" Break Man said, walking out onto the small hill where Roll was sitting.     "Go away."     "Look," he continued, "It's not going to do you any good to keep all this bottled up inside. You need to talk about it. I know how you felt about Rock. Heck, I miss him. But he wouldn't want us to dwell on it. It's been five hundred years, Roll..."     "I don't know, Blues," Roll said, looking out over the ocean, "I really miss him. It's just..."     "He's family. I know..."     "It's more than that and you know it."     "Roll, don't be ridiculous. Robots can be in love."     "Really?" Roll said, glaring at him.     "I knew it was a mistake to give you these emotions." Break Man said, shaking his head.     "Oh, it's fine for you and Rock to be 'living', but when Dad was able to recreate the experiment and give me life, it was a mistake?"     "That's not what I meant, Roll." Break Man replied. He sat down beside her, and took off his helmet. Roll looked at him, as she did so many times in the past, and saw Rock again. She had a hard time convincing herself it was really Blues, the brother she had only known since he had returned to help his father during his darkest hour.     "I'm sorry, it's just..." Roll began.     "Whoa, Enker dude, check out the most bodacious surf down there!" Quint yelled as he jumped out of the house and bounded towards the ocean. Both robots laughed at the diversion. They turned to see the troops they had managed to assemble. There was Quint, Enker, Saturn, Pluto and Terra. Not a bad team to begin with. Hopefully, he could find more robots to rebuild when they explored deeper into the remains of Skull Palace.     "They're a good group." Roll said.     "Definately." Break Man replied. "It's a good start." Only after he said it did he realize how much he had sounded like his brother.


	7. Part Six - From the Ashes

Road of the Warrior, Part Six

Part Six-From The Ashes

    Vector detached himself from the pedistal Phaelin had allowed him to use. He looked outside, and realized more than a few hours had passed. Unusual, but then again he had allowed himself no recharge time since he'd come across the story of Break Man. He looked around for Phaelin, but she was nowhere to be seen. He walked over to the chair and turned on the TV. Treble crawled over and collapsed in his lap.     "Hey boy." he said, petting him. "Long night?"     Treble whimpered in the affirmative.     "Well, let's see what's on." he said, and turned on the television.     "To recap our top story, General Director Binary of the Maverick Hunter told the press today that he believes Mega Man X, the most decorated Reploid in the service, was destroyed in battle against the X-Hunters."     "WHAT?" Vector said.     "Good morning," Phaelin said, walking into the room, "Did you recharge well?"     "Phaelin," Vector said, panicked, "Mega Man X is dead, and all you can do is ask how I recharged?"     "Mega Man X?" Phaelin asked with a grin. "You mean that pile of metal over there?"     In what seemed like slow motion, Vector turned to see the heavily damaged and motionless remains of Mega Man X lying on the dining room table.     "Th...that's X...you didn't..."     "No, of course not!" Phaelin said, almost laughing. "Sigma and the Robot Masters took care of that quite well on their own. I'm going to help him."     "I can see that," Vector said, still dazed, "Lying on that table probably helped him a lot before he DIED!"     "Dying is the best thing to happen. X's body was such a substandard model that it couldn't even contain his full memory circuits. He had to back them up and compress them, making them utterly unusable."     "Yeah, good. But now who's going to stop Sigma? X was the greatest Hunter to ever live."     "First, you're under a misconception that robots can live and die. They can activate and deactivate, but not live and die. Only living machines can do that."     "I'm sorry," Vector said, "But I thought you said living machines."     "I did."     "There's no such thing."     "Of course there is." Phaelin said. "Living machines can think and feel independent of programming. In fact, it's quite a chore to reprogram a living machine at all. And living machines have many characteristics Dr. Light could never have imagined."     "Yes, but he never understood them. It was an accident, really. But, after five hundred years, these living machines showed an interesting property. They were able to regenerate."     "Yeah, so?"     Phaelin pointed Vector to a door. She then opened it, and behind it stood an undamaged, yet smaller version of X. It was tiny, even compared to Vector. Yet the very presence seemed to exhude a sense of awe and power.     "Vector Phi," Phaelin said with pride, "This is the original Mega Man. And, after five hundred years, you and I are going to reintigrate him." 

    "Bass." Mega Man said, glaring at his hated enemy.     "Nice of you to join us, Mega Man." Bass shot back with a grin. "I assume you remember your sister and the daughter of Doctor Cossack, don't you?"     "Let them go, Bass. This is between you and me."     "I'm aware of that. I'm also aware that you would only blame yourself if something happened to them. And that would give me a decided edge."     "A tainted victory, Bass?"     "I'm not guided by your foolish sense of honor. I'm smart enough to accept any victory, not matter how it comes to me."     Bass smiled, then fired a shot at Mega Man. The blue robot dodged the blast, and quickly sent a series of commands to his animal companions. Rush jumped into the air and transformed into the Adept armor, while Tango rolled into a ball and launched himself at Bass. Bass dodged the attack, then merged with Treble. The two robots flew into the sky and traded blows with their jet fist weapons.     "It ends now, Mega Man."     "There's one thing we agree on." Mega said, then fired off another round at Bass. The blow smashed into his shoulder, denting the metal inward.     Meanwhile, below the two, Break Man had gained his opportunity. He ran forward to the controls, intent on helping his sister and Kalinka out of Bass's death trap. It was going to be easy. In fact, Break Man realized too late, too easy.     A blue boot kicked him backwards. He looked up to see Wily's clone of his brother standing over him, a wide grin on his face.     "Hey there big brother." the clone said, "Are you doing something you shouldn't?"     "I'm not," Break Man said, and trained his cannon on the robot, "Your brother!" He fired, and the robot flew back. It was only enough to daze him, but it would give him the time he needed. He turned to the controls, only in time to see his own clone smiling back at him.     "Pretty stupid, Proto." it said, mocking him.     "Don't call me that!" Break Man said, then jumped at him. It was too late, however-With ease, the clone threw the switch, and the energy beams holding Roll and Kalinka disappeared, sending them hurtling into the chasm below.     "Mega!" Break Man cried out. His brother turned away from Bass and flew as fast as he could. He had no choice-This was one time he had to succeed, at all costs. 

    "Wily?" Vile said, entering the lab Wily had already set up.     "Come in, Vile." Wily replied. From the clutter of parts and computers, Vile couldn't see the scientist. But he ventured further into the lab, trying to find him. He looked at all of the half finished robots and designs on the screen-Wily had obviously been busy. Finally, he came face to face with him.     Wily was hovering over the disconnected arm of Mega Man X, dissecting it and looking at each circuit in great detail. Much had been thrown onto the ground around a make shift waste basket, but some circuits were carefully laid aside.     "It's fascinating," Wily said, not even looking up, "Light seems to have made considerable advances after my...sebatical...began."     "You asked to see me?" he asked.     "Yes, sit down, please." Wily asked. Vile did as he requested. After throwing yet another jumble of gears and wires to the ground, he looked up at him. "Vile, I want you as my right hand."     "What?" Vile said in shock.     "I need a second in command. Guts Man is a fine soldier, but I need someone who knows this time. Sigma is unstable at best-something I assume you've known all along. You are the best choice."     "Why me? Why not Bit, or Byte, or Shocker?"     "Simple. You've survived encounters with Mega Man X and the Maverick Hunters, and you already have the faith of the other Mavericks. In addition, you yourself are constructed of the same advanced technology as some of my own robots." Wily smiled. "I see a little of my own ideas in the man who designed you."     "I'm honored, sir."     "Now, we must address the issue of my master plan." Wily said, then spun around one of the monitors next to him. "This is Break Man, a highly advanced robot from my own time. In fact, he is a living machine. He is the only one that truely stands in the way of my forces. We must draw him out into the open."     "What for?"     "Think about it, Vile." Wily said. "He's the most powerful robot on the planet. With your resources, what would you do?"     Vile thought for a moment, then it dawned on him. It was perfect.     "I'll begin immediately." Vile said, then left the room.     Wily smiled as he left. He liked that Reploid, though he couldn't fathom exactly why. He then looked at his monitor yet again. After waiting five hundred years, the few extra days of waiting for world domination wouldn't hurt at all.


	8. Part Seven - Ambush

Road of the Warrior, Part Seven

Part Seven-Ambush

    "Break Man, we have a problem." Doctor Cain had said. It sounded so normal, almost simple. He headed to the area Cain had told him about, prepared to face a small contengent of Maverick Reploids, dispatch them, and return home. He wasn't prepared for this-Dozens of Reploids, attacking humans and Reploids alike.     It was like a scene from his nightmares.     He could have called for back up. That would have been the sensible thing. But the others weren't ready for active duty this soon. He could easily handle these poorly constructed robots. It would just take more time, that was all. He jumped off of his jet bike and began fired at the Reploids. The first few were caught completely off guard, but they quickly noticed and began the attack. It was like bee stings, really. But Break Man knew that enough bees could kill a man.     "There he is!" a voice cried out from the crowd. All of the Reploids stopped what they were doing and attacked him. Obviously, he had been expected. He fired at each of the Reploids that came at him, but the massive group seemed like a hydra-Each time one went down, two more would take his place. Still, little damage had registered on his screens.     Then, suddenly, one weapon out of the barrage staggered him. He looked down to see a large boomerang wedged in his arm. The weapon was familiar, but that was impossible. He couldn't be one of them. For that matter, he couldn't be alive. Break Man fired again, taking down more of the Reploids with each shot. But then, every once in a while, another blow would stagger him. But he seemed to be winning. He continued to fire-It seemed like an eternity since he had begun-and the ranks finally began to thin. From behind them all, a female Reploid began to walk forward. Beneath her pure blue eyes were two red daggers, and a red dot was on her forehead. She appeared to be the leader.     "You must be Break Man." she said, walking forward. Suddenly, all the fire stopped.     "Yeah. And you must be Miss Universe."     "Witty." the robot shot back. "You have caused me a considerable amount of trouble, robot. I intend to repay it now."     With that, the robot fired a laser from her cannon. Break Man jumped out of the way, and fired. The attack sent the robot flying backwards.     "You'll have to do better than that."     "He will." Suddenly, a large pair of arms grabbed Break Man from behind. He recognized them, and the voice, instantly.     "Guts Man?" Break Man cried. "How..."     "I'd like to catch up on old times, but I'm afraid your time is up."     Break Man looked up to see the robot walked back towards him. She was badly damaged, but she was grinning widely. She walked over to Break Man, and laughed.     "It was almost too easy." she said.     "What are you laughing at? I'm still standing, aren't I?"     "Oh, that was the intention." The robot then put her hand on Break Man's shoulder. Suddenly, warnings inside Break Man screamed.     "Foreign entity detected in systems."     Break Man doubled over, then looked up at the grinning face of the Reploid.     "W...what are y...you?"     "It doesn't really matter now, Break Man." she said, "But let me assure you-You will remember the name of Sigma." 

    Mega Man down to where Roll and Kalinka were falling. Rush was running out of power, but he easily had time to take Roll to safety and return for Kalinka. He grabbed his sister out of the air and flew away from the chasm. Suddenly, he felt Rush lose all power. He looked back in horror to see one of the jet engines blown apart. Rush howled in pain, and Mega Man flew towards the ground. He spun around to make Roll face upwards, assuring she wouldn't be hurt in the impact. As he did, he saw Kalinka screamed, flying downwards into the pit. And he realized, with horror, there was nothing he could do.     He smacked into the ground hard, and he saw his clone smiling. It was obviously he who had destroyed his thruster. He then realized he was about to fire at Roll. No matter the cost, Mega Man told himself, no one else would die. He transformed his cannon into the Mega-Buster and fired at his clone. The blast hit its mark, ripping apart the right side of the robot's face. He fell to the ground, screaming.     "Kalinka..." he said, turning around. Her screams were no longer audible, but he could imagine them in his head.     "Bass!" Wily cried from his control center. "This wasn't supposed to happen!"     "I will destroy Mega Man at all costs, Wily!" Bass cried. He turned around in time to see Mega Man tackling him. He pummelled the robot viciously, and circuitry began to fly off of him. Mega Man didn't care. Bass had murdered a defenseless girl, and it was about time someone ended his reign of terror.     From behind, Treble knocked him off of his master. Bass jumped to his feet, and pointed his cannon at Roll and Break Man.     "C'mon, take your best shot. You've got five seconds."     Mega Man trained his cannon and fired. The blast soared towards Bass, but the robot ducked. The blast continued, and ripped through the glass of the control center and hit Wily dead on. He fell back at the controls, staring at Bass.     "Why?" Wily whispered.     "You were too weak." Bass shot back, then was forced back by a cannon blast. One after another, they forced Bass against the wall. Pieces of shrapnel from the wall ripped into his arms, pinning him to the wall. He looked up to see Mega Man's cannon, powered up for another blast.     "You're mad because I helped you to kill Wily? He's always been a thorn in your side, Mega Man! You almost killed him yourself."     "He was almost my friend, once. And your father. And now you're going to pay for your crimes."     "You won't do it!" Bass taunted. "You're too weak. He who hesitates..."     Bass was silenced as a blast when off. He looked down to see Mega Man's cannon pointed at his chest, and the searing hole where it had once been.     "I'm through hesitating." Mega Man said, then walked over to Bass. "I won. Now give me the disarm codes."     "There are...no disarm codes...Wily was going to end it all...right now. And the best part is...he's got another missle aimed at the colony ships."     "Break Man, Roll," Mega Man said, ripping Bass away from the wall, "Take him to Doctor Light. He could be lying."     "What are you going to do?" Break Man asked.     "Stop that missle."     The two robots nodded. Roll ran over and hugged her brother.     "C'mon Roll," Mega said with a slight grin, "You're acting like you'll never see me again."     "Be careful, bro." Break Man said, slinging Bass's body over his shoulder.     "I will."     Tango and Rush gathered at Mega's feet, their eyes pleading for their master to take them with him.     "Go with Break Man and Roll." he commanded. "I'll be okay-Trust me."     The robots teleported away, leaving Mega Man almost completely alone. He heard a whimper from behind, and turned to see Treble.     "You want to help me?" Mega Man asked. The animal whimpered in the affirmative. Mega Man nodded, and Treble transformed, merging with his former enemy. Mega Man looked back towards the pit, and he could have sworn he heard Treble say something.     "I'm sorry." 

    As soon as Mega Man had left, the clone of Break Man had taken his master's limp body into the chamber he had ordered him to. It could even repair the damage the cannon had caused, or so Wily claimed. He laid his master into the capsule, then began prepping the machine.     "Break Man," Wily whispered, "My final creation...a clone of Light's first...ironic, isn't it?"     "What?" the clone asked.     "How all things...in the end...revert to Zero." he said, then closed his eyes. "In the computers...an upgrade for you...use it, and wait for me."     The clone nodded, and finished the activation procedures for the chamber.     "I guess we lost."     The clone spun around to see a tall robot with long white hair and white and gold armor.     "Alto. Where were you all this time?"     "Preparing, what do you expect?" she said with a grin. "Hurry up, we have to get you modified quickly. There's a lot to be done. That is, if we want things to turn out the way they are supposed to."     "And what puts you in charge?"     "I've seen the future." Alto replied smugly.


	9. Part Eight - Corruption

Road of the Warrior, Part Eight

Part Eight-Corruption

    Doctor Cain was putting in yet another late night. It was hardly suprising, but this time it was different. He was trying to understand every detail of Doctor Light's weapons systems, seeing if it was possible to integrate them into his older designs. He could only assume it was possible.     Behind him, the door opened. He was alarmed at first, but then revealed to see the silhouette of Break Man. He smiled, and returned to the cannon.     "How did the assignment go?"     Break Man chuckled. "It was more than a little problem, but I took care of it. Got rid of that Sigma character that's been giving you so much trouble."     "Oh, that was just one host, Break Man. Sigma's true form is that of a computer virus. He can take over any machine he wants to."     "So I've heard." Break Man said. "What are you working on?"     "Some of Light's weapons systems." Cain replied. "And then there's this strange component. He obviously seperated it for some good reason, but I can't figure it out. Maybe you know something about it."     "Pentagon shaped computer board, right?"     "Yes, exactly!" Cain cried. "What is it?"     "Something very important. Oh, by the way," Break Man said, pulling off his helmet, "You have no idea how right you were about the Sigma virus."     Cain spun around to see Break Man's face. "Dear God..."     "Sorry, you'll have to finish that prayer later." Break Man said, then fired. Cain fell to the ground, looking at the robot in terror. Break Man walked over him and grabbed the circuits on the table. Just then, the lights came on.     "Break Man?" Roll asked, then gasped as she saw him standing on Cain's dead body.     "Suprise!" he said, then fired at her. She fell to the ground helplessly, to the laughter of Break Man. He turned to the security camera, then smiled.     "Let everyone know the Earth belongs to Break Man!" 

    "T-minus thirty seconds to launch and counting."     It was almost too easy. All Mega Man had to do was fire his cannon at the main reactor of the missle, and it would explode in the bay. He began to power up his cannon, readying his teleporter for only a second after the blast went off. Just then, another blast hit him, forcing him back. He looked up to see his clone. Most of the pseudo skin on the right side of his face was gone, revealing the circuits underneath.     "We have unfinished business, twin." he said.     "You're right," Mega Man replied, "We do."     The clone fired again, and Mega Man dodged. To his suprise, Treble was far more manueverable than Rush. He targeted his clone again, and flew towards him at top speed. Blasts from his cannon hit him, but he didn't care. Doctor Light could repair the damage. He flew into him, and the clone was sent flying backwards, and went through the wall. He fell into the same chasm Kalinka had fallen into, screaming all the way.     "T-minus ten seconds to launch."     "Now, to finish this..." Mega Man said, then paused in horror. His teleport system had been severely damaged-If he teleported away, there was no telling where he'd end up.     "Treble, can you teleport?" The panther replied yes. "Okay then, as soon as I give you the signal, get out of here. Don't worry about me."     Treble whimpered, but Mega knew he would obey. He targeted the main reactor of the missle again.     "T-minus five seconds and counting until launch."     Mega Man's arm powered up to full.     "Four."     He rechecked his aim again. He certainly wouldn't have another shot.     "Three."     The blast left his arm, and he commanded Treble to teleport. He did so and, robbed of his propulsion, Mega Man began to fall towards the ground.     "Two."     The blast hit its mark, and the reactor went off early, causing the missle to explode.     "One."     The ground was hurtling towards him, but the massive fireball seemed to be coming quickly as well. Mega Man closed his eyes, and thought of his family one last time. Images of Break Man, Roll, Rush, Tango, Light, and even Wily passed through his head. Then the fireball hit, and Mega Man's systems went offline.     "Zero." 

    Mega Man's systems immediately came to life. He jumped off of the table, and pointed his cannon at the person who had operated him.     "Alto." he said. "I should have known you wouldn't have kept out of this. Forgive my rudeness, but I find it hard to believe you got me out of that explosion out of the goodness of your heart."     "I hate to burst your bubble, Mega Man," Phaelin said with a grin, "But this is five hundred years after the fact. You didn't escape that explosion, but your body regenerated itself. I had to reintegrate your memory from a robot Doctor Light hastily created, called Mega Man X. His memory circuits are all in there. But enough chitchat, there's someone who wants to say hi."     With that, Treble leaped onto the table and started licking Mega Man's face.     "Hey, knock it off!" Mega Man said, "I'm glad to see you too, boy."     "While Treble's very excited," a voice said from behind, "That's not who Phaelin meant."     "Doctor Light?" Mega Man said, and spun around to see a blue holographic projection behind him.     "Yes. I was able to find a way to download my memory circuits into a computer. As well as Kalinka's, into Phaelin's systems. You see, Alto was never Wily's creation. She was mine, and I sent her into the past to make certain things happened as they should. There is much to explain Mega Man...but first, we should get Vector in here as well."     "Vector!" Phaelin yelled. "Mega Man's ready for his interview."     In the pathway, a blue and red robot with a humanoid face and blonde hair entered. In his hands was a computer pad.     "Sorry," Mega Man said, "But I'm not up for an interview."     "Hold on just a second!" Vector said. "I'm Vec..."     "Let me handle the introductions. This is the original Mega Man, and this," Phaelin said, turning to Vector Phi, "Is Bass."     Vector dropped his computer pad, and it broke on the hard floor of the lab. "Now this is going to take some explaining..."


	10. Part Nine - The Coming Storm

Road of the Warrior, Part Nine

Part Nine-The Coming Storm

    "Here you go, Wily." Break Sigma said, handing the circuit to the doctor. He smiled, and quickly connected the circuit to the panel in front of him.     "Excellent work Sigma." Wily said. "Now, all we need is an appropriate power source, and everything will be ready."     "Don't you need the component from Sigma's master systems?" Guts Man asked.     "Of course I do. But it's already in place."     "You mean..."     "Exactly." Wily said with a grin. "Sigma's master computer is inside..."     "Arrgghhhh..." Sigma said suddenly, doubling over. "Break Man...somehow, he's fighting back!"     "That's impossible!" Vile cried.     "Very possible. In fact, I expected as much." Wily said. "Break Man is a living machine. Unlike anything Sigma was designed to inhabit. But we have the chip now, and that is the most important thing."     "Get...out...of...me!" Break Man screamed. He reached over and ripped away the sword that Sigma had installed on one of his hands. He then lurched forward, almost crashing into the console Wily was assembling.     "Vile! Teleport them out of here!" Wily said. "Before they can do any more damage!"     Vile nodded, then ran behind Break Man and grabbed his shoulder. The two then teleported out of the lab.     "Interesting reaction." Guts Man noted as he walked beside his master.     "Very. I didn't expect Sigma to be able to inhabit Break Man for long, as I said. However, he will soon have an even more effective host." Wily replied. "Is everything ready?"     "Very nearly. We have almost pinpointed the exact location."     "Excellent. Soon, very soon, this entire pitiful little planet will be ours." 

    The lense of Kor's exposed eye tightened as he tried to make sure what was on the video Surgeon was showing him. They were unmistakable-Several of Doctor Wily's old robots. Quick Man, Guts Man, Bright Man, Flash Man, Turbo Man-All of them exactly as he remembered them. He looked to the sky, and noticed it almost immediately-too small for the human eye to detect, but a distortion around the clouds in an all-too familiar cigar shape.     "Wily's saucer." he said simply.     "Kor, Wily's dead." Surgeon said. "You told us you saw Mega Man blast a hole through him."     "I saw Bass trick him into doing it," Kor corrected, "And Wily was resourceful enough to find some way around death. By all rights, I shouldn't be alive either."     "Perhaps so." Shadoo said, walking into the room, "But you're a robot. Wily's a human. It's impossible. It has to be."     "Nothing is impossible." Kor said with a smile. "Beta, my dear, what do you think?"     Beta walked into the room, wearing her new battle armor. "If this Wily person is as clever as you claim, I don't doubt he found some way to escape death."     "He won't escape it a second time." Kor said, then clenched his fist.     "Didn't Wily create you, Kor? Or us, for that matter?" Surgeon asked.     "You forget, Wily discarded Doc Robot and Dark Man as soon as he was through with them. Just as he did with me."     "You sound a little bitter, chief." Shadoo said.     "Being trapped at the bottom of a pit while you're regenerating, with only a human skeleton for company for five hundred years tends to help you put things in perspective. In addition, in the act of cloning Mega Man, Wily gave me some of that sickening code of ethics he followed. And, over time, the bitter hatred he had for Wily-without the control he had over it in his life."     "So, what do we do?" Surgeon asked. "Take out Wily?"     "Yes, but there is a certain way we must go about it. The four of us alone are not enough. Wily presents a great threat to everyone on this planet."     "You better watch it boss," Shadoo warned, "You're starting to sound like a hero."     "A momentary lapse." Kor said, but sounded unsure. 

    "Alright," Vector Phi said, "Let me get this straight. Five hundred years ago, Mega Man blasted "me" and you rebuilt me into my current form, hiding my memories from me and transforming me into some kind of..."     "Living machine, that's right." the hologram of Light explained, "You see, simple robots with emotional programming are far too dangerous. Without life, all emotions can be are preprogrammed standards. There is no self control or moderation. The emotions can dominate the robot and send them into a flurry of actions that must be fulfilled, according to the programs."     "So, Bass doesn't exist any more?" Mega Man asked.     "He does, actually. Vector retains Bass's shape shifting abilities. We discovered-quite by accident-that Bass's program is still within Vector. From time to time, it takes over and Bass is able to transform into his original form. With some work, I might be able to allow you and Bass to communicate with you, Vector. It was Bass that saved you...or Mega Man X...from Doctor Wily."     "Now," Mega Man said, sitting in the chair behind him, "Explain to me how Wily is back."     "Wily's accident-the one that transformed him into the monster we now know-was caused by an experiment he dubbed Lazarus. It could cure any disease, heal any injury, and reverse the aging process. However, depending on the severity of the injuries, it would take great amounts of time. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that Wily was able to perfect Lazarus and had been inside of it."     "So, Wily and his robots are back, and he's got allies in this time." Mega Man said. "This doesn't sound very good."     "Well, if you and Bass team up..."     "Forgive me if I don't trust Bass."     "He saved your life, Mega Man!" Phaelin exclaimed. "He was an imperfect machine back then."     "That doesn't make him any less guilty of his crimes."     "Mega...Rock, please." Vector said, walking over to him. "I know Bass has done some terrible things, but he's different now. You have to trust him."     "The last time I trusted him," Mega Man shot back, "He destroyed the lab and almost killed Doctor Light."     "Then maybe," Vector said, and suddenly transformed into Bass, "You should use this." With that, Bass lifted Mega Man's cannon arm up against his chest.     "You've got to be kidding me."     "The last time we met, you didn't hesitate to do what it took. You shouldn't do it now, either. I don't have any problem if you blast me-I deserve it, more than anyone else. But no matter what, you have to fight Wily. You can do it with me or without me. I'd just as soon we do it together."     Mega Man slowly lowered his cannon. "Fine, but don't expect me to bail you out if you get in trouble." He continued to glare at his old enemy. "And if you make even the slightest move Bass, I won't hesitate to destroy you."     "Fair enough." Bass replied, then held out his hand. "Partners?" Mega Man pushed his hand away.     "Unwilling allies." Mega Man said, then walked away. 

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	11. Part Ten - The Gordian Knot

Road of the Warrior, Part Ten

Part Ten-The Gordian Knot

    "Give it up, Break Man." Sigma said. "This body is mine."     "Oh yeah?" Break Man said, then pointed his blaster and fired. Sigma forced the body downward, but the blast hit and damaged his shoulder. Sigma forced him back to his feet, trying to assert his control. Minor damage, all of which could easily be repaired. But Break Man's struggle was admirable. But he had to realize that his body now belonged to Sigma.     "Are you okay Sigma?" Vile asked.     "Of course I am. Just a little..." he began, then was cut off yet again. Break Man fell to his knees, and his cannon transformed into a normal hand again. The two were obviously involved in a struggle for control. Break Man fought against Sigma to force his arms upward, and they slowly inched up. Finally, he gained control and forced his arms upward, to the top of his chest.     "What the..." Vile said.     "Get...out...of...me!" Break Man cried, then shoved his fingers into his chest. To Vile's horror, the robot then began to rip it off. He was intent to rid himself of the CIGMA virus, one way or another. Break Man screamed again, then fell to the ground, exhausted. The plates that had once covered his chest hung off of him. It was obvious Sigma had lost control of the robot. Which meant he now had a job to do. He pointed his cannon down at the robot and smiled.     "No one's ever been able to break Sigma's control." Vile said. "That should comfort you on your way to your final reward."     "You first." Break Man said, then lifted his arm cannon and fired. Vile flew to the ground, damaged but still very much aware of his escaping enemy. He fired several shots, and a few seemed to hit their mark. But Break Man was running for his life. Wily wouldn't be happy if he let him escape.     "X-Hunters," he said over his comm link, "We have an escapee that needs to be taken care of."     Ahead of him, Break Man continued to run. The other robots were no where near as fast as he was. Though he was damaged, he had to keep running. Suddenly, he fell forward as his ankle joint snapped out of place.     "I may not have control," he heard Sigma say, "But I can still destroy you from the inside."     Sigma was slowly but surely ripping him apart. He limped forward on the one leg, but he felt all the servos in that leg being stripped. He fell forward, but continued to crawl forward, trying desperately to escape the Mavericks he could now hear only yards away. Sigma, however, had other intentions. He continued his work, tearing Break Man apart.     "There he is!"     Break Man recognized Vile's voice. He turned to see the robot fire at him. The blast didn't do any damage compared to what Sigma was doing, but it sent him careening over the face of a nearby cliff. He fell down, and could see Vile and the others looking down at him, and he could hear their laughter. Sigma was still terrorizing him, and he knew in a matter of minutes it would all be over. He hit the ground, and his optical circuits began to short out. Then he saw a woman above him, dressed in white. It had to be an angel.     "Don't worry Break Man," she said, "You're going to be with your brother now."     Break Man smiled. "I know." 

    "You've got to be kidding me." Binary said, and looked again at the four newest Maverick Hunter applicants.     "This is no joke." Kor replied. "There is a great threat from a man known as Doctor Wily. He is teaming up with Sigma, and his powers make anything you have pale in comparison. We wish to help you battle him."     "And what proof do you have of this Doctor Wily being alive?"     "Enough. Mega Man X has been destroyed. The new, more powerful Reploids that are still emerging. Doesn't it seem strange that the evil you have been able to fight off for so long is suddenly becoming more powerful?"     Binary paused. "We just received word one of those advanced robots killed Doctor Cain. You're telling the truth-or at least part of it. I'll accept your offer. I've sent Zero out after them, but if he gets in trouble."     "With Zero," Kor said with a grin, "the danger isn't being destroyed." 

    Wily. After a five hundred year absense, he was back with a vengence. He was going to try and make one quick strike to gain control of the world. And once again, Mega Man stood in his way. The blue robot knew that was as it should have been. It seemed now, more than ever, that it would never end.     He looked over the memory banks of the robot known as X. His release from the capsule by Doctor Cain, his befriending of the hunter Zero, the betrayal of the other Mavericks, and his struggles against Sigma. It seemed all too familiar. He knew that X had really been him, but Mega Man couldn't get over the feeling that his own life had come at the cost of another.     There were also familiar faces in those memories as well. The holographic Doctor Light, guiding him on his journey, afraid to tell him the truth. And then there was the devastated visage of Kor, his clone from the previous battle, who had survived to cause X more trouble. And then at the end, something even eerier. A sound he knew all too well. A sound only Light and Wily's original creations could hear. A Whistle, one that signified the arrival of someone close to him.     "Mega Man."     The voice was a welcome one, though a shock. He recognized it instantly, and began to turn around to greet him.     "Don't turn around." Break Man said. "I want you to be prepared for what you will see."     The first thought to run through Mega Man's mind was that it was all a trick, that Bass had mimicked his brother. He had also learned that Kor had rebuilt Dark Man, the robot who originally destroyed his brother's reputation, and that too was possible. But then again, no one, not Vector or Phaelin or even Light knew he was here. And the remains of Doctor Light's lab were a natural place for him to come as well.     "I heard about your resurrection, and knew you would be here." Break Man said. "Rock, I've done some terrible things. The worst part is I don't know what they are. A monster from this time...Sigma...took over my body. I regained control, and tried to go back to my allies. But I was attacked."     "The CIGMA virus possessed you?" Mega asked, still turned away.     "Yes. And that explains this." Break Man said. "You can turn around now.     Mega Man turned around to look at his brother. And what he saw terrified him.     Break Man's shoulders had been mangled beyond belief, one obviously the victim of a direct blast from a plasma cannon. His arms hung limply at his side, and one hand was missing several fingers. His right leg had a long scar running down it, apparently the result of an internal explosion. The other leg, which Break Man was barely balanced on, had a badly misshapen ankle joint. Then there was the most terrible of all-The armor that had once covered his chest place was gone, revealing all of the circuits underneath. The top edge was jagged, but the rest of the wound was smooth, as if it had been done intentionally. In fact, it seemed as if little of the damage was actually done in battle. It seemed as it most of it had been made through internal modification.     "How did this happen?"     "Sigma. He possessed me. I was able to fight it off, but he was still inside." Break Man explained. "He was able to possess me for a short time, and he made some modifications. He apparently tried to turn one of my hands into a sword."     "You must be in tremendous pain." Mega Man said. He hoped that Break Man wasn't noticing how badly he was shaking. The two had been almost identical twins, but now Break Man was a monstrocity, a mockery of his former self.     "No, I can't feel a thing. Sigma apparently doesn't like pain too much."     Mega Man walked over to his brother and put his hand on his shoulder. It was then he could feel how badly he was shaking as well. He was terrified, and perhaps even humiliated by the weakness he had shown. Just then, his ankle gave way, and he fell to the ground. Mega Man caught him, and fell to his knees as well.     "Don't worry, bro." Mega Man said, "Despite everything that's happened, we're together again. And that's all that matters."


	12. Part Eleven - Betrayal

Road of the Warrior, Part Eleven

Part Eleven-Betrayal

    The silence reminded Zero of so many ambushes he had walked into in his life. But he wasn't afraid. After all, he'd been dead before. It was actually quite liberating.     He stepped into the chamber where he had fought all of the robots only a few days ago. Where he had last seen his friend X. He looked around, expecting activity. But instead the chamber was completely empty, and devoid of any movement. Or so it seemed.     "Ironic, isn't it, how all things ultimately revert to Zero?" he turned to see a man step out of the shadows. He had seen him before, save the fact he was now completely bald. He had seen him just before he had left unwillingly, but he seemed familar in another way as well.     "What's that supposed to mean?"     "I said it before I left. It's where you got your name, though I'm certain you don't remember the event. It was five hundred years ago, Zero. The end of the Great War, or whatever they call it now. You have always known you were different from the rest. Sigma knew it as well... your "secret", he called it. You probably still remember the day he found you in that cavern, and released you from your sleep. You became a Maverick Hunter, and eventually their leader."     "Oh really. What happened to you, forget to put on your toupee this morning?"     "After living most of my life without hair going back to it was a hastle." the man shot back. "But I don't think you came all this way to talk to me about hair."     "Who are you?" Zero demanded. He was growing tired of the mind games.     "I am Doctor Albert Wily, and I created you."     "I don't believe you." Zero shot back and pointed his cannon. "Where's Mega Man X?"     In reply, Wily threw an arm on the ground. "That's all I that's left of the hero."     "I should kill you." Zero growled.     "But you won't. Because your destiny is with me. You will join me once more."     "Like hell I will."     "I am your master, Proto Man." Wily said. Zero stepped back, recognition in those words. Suddenly, the memories of who he had once been came back. "Ah, now you remember the code word to revive your memories. And now, as the most powerful robot ever created, you will join me once more, to conquer this planet."     Zero was silent for a moment. "Yes, father, I shall rejoin you."     "I knew you would, Zero." Wily said with a smile. "Now, all is almost in place. In a few hours, my final victory will be at hand. Now, we must hurry. We have to go to Maverick Hunter headquarters."     "Why there?" Zero asked.     "Because we have a revival to attend." 

    "Mega Man, there's something I haven't shown you yet." Break Man admitted.     "It's okay, Break Man."     "This is worse than all the rest." he admitted, then lifted his hands towards his helmet. He pulled off the clasps at each side, then pulled it off. Mega Man was shocked as he saw what he had expected to be the face of his twin.     All of Break Man's hair was gone. Two red triangles extended below his eyes, and a brown dot was at the top of his forehead. Yet Mega Man instantly recognized the eyes of his brother as his own.     "It's okay, Blues." Mega Man replied. "We can get you fixed up, I'm sure."     "No, you won't."     Mega Man spun around to see several robots standing behind them, all of them familiar. Enker, Quint, Saturn, Pluto and Terra, all with one new feature-a large, intricately designed "L" on their right shoulders. Mega Man jumped in front of his brother.     "Mega?" Enker asked. "We thought you were dead!"     "This is becoming a recurring theme." Mega Man shot back. "What are you doing here?"     "Getting revenge on Break Man. He betrayed us, and killed Doctor Cain, and Roll still might not make it."     "No..." he heard Break Man mutter.     "Listen, I can explain everything..." Mega Man began.     "We aren't going to listen to anyone." Terra said.     "Except me."     Mega Man turned to his side to see the holographic projection of Doctor Light beside them. He was somewhat shocked, but after the day he'd had thus far, it really was mundane.     "Break Man was infected with a virus that controlled his actions. He is not at fault. I can provide you with proof of this. If you bring Roll to me, I can help her."     "This is like totally far out." Quint said.     "Listen, we don't have time to argue." Light said. "I believe Wily may make his move soon. We have to repair everyone and be ready for it."     "Alright." Enker said. "Quint, help Mega Man get Break Man out of here. I don't want to see him any more damaged that he already is."     "Thank you." Break Man said. "Glad to see you're staying on the straight and narrow."     "Of course." Enker replied, then looked to the L on his arm. "We're the Light Brigade, after all." 

    It began as a low rumbling underneath the Maverick Hunter headquarters, and Binary didn't think much of it. When it increased, he was certain it was an earthquake. Then it increased once more, and the ground below him began to crack. He jumped out of his desk just in time to avoid the gigantic spike that came up through it. He turned to see what had caused it, expecting some kind of vehicle. But, to his horror, he saw it was a gigantic fist.     "Perimeter breached. Maverick Reploids attacking headquarters." the computer warned.     "All Maverick Hunters, we are under attack. Repeat, we are under attack!" Binary screamed through the intercomm, then ran out of the room as the gigantic fist continued to rip through the floor. He ran out into the hall, and face to face with several robots, more humanoid than animal, like most mavericks. One fired an electrical beam at him, and he flew back against the wall. The robots walked towards him, but they were suddenly picked off by blaster fire from behind him. He turned to see Kor, blowing smoke off his cannon.     "C'mon chief, this place is about to go." he said. "Send out an evacuation order and let's get out of here."     "All Hunters, evacuate headquarters. Repeat, evacuate headquarters!" Binary warned, then followed Kor down the hallway towards the exit. More of the robots blocked their path, and they turned to see more behind him.     "We're trapped. What now?"     "We make our own exit." Kor said, then fired at the wall. A hole was blasted in it, and Kor grabbed Binary and jumped out.     "Retro rockets." Kor said calmly as they flew towards the ground. Jets on Kor's feet sparked to life, and they landed safely next to the other Mavericks, who were watching their headquarters in awe. All of the robots quickly ran out as two fists ripped through the sides, and something began to rise out of it. The form quickly became unmistakable. It was a massive humanoid robot.     "Look at his eyes." Binary said, and everyone did so. They turned solid blue, and a red triangle formed underneath each one.     "Now Monsteropolis, feel the power of GAMMA SIGMA!"


	13. Part Twelve - Gamma

Road of the Warrior, Part Twelve

Part Twelve-Gamma

    _Author's Note: Again... this was written BEFORE X5._

    "Hey, you already look as good as new!" Enker said as Break Man left the labratory of Doctor Light.     "Well, except for the fact Doc can't get rid of one of those triangles, no matter what." he replied with disgust. "I suppose it's a souveneir."     "Warning-Maverick attack in the city." the computer said, and both robots looked at the monitor. On it, a massive robot walked through the city, ripping apart buildings and attacking the Maverick Hunters brave enough to try and stop it.     "Gamma." Enker said simply.     "And the CIGMA Virus has possessed him." Break Man added. "Let's get moving." 

    "This is almost too easy." Gamma Sigma bellowed, swatting at each of the Hunters that dared to attack him. They couldn't scratch him. He was invincible.     "Hey Sigma," Kor said from the ground, "Try this!"     The blast only shattered the useless glass bubble on his forehead. Sigma tried to stomp at the tiny robot, but he quickly dodged the attack. Another Maverick Hunter ran forward, and Sigma was delighted to see it was Binary. The Hunter commander seperated himself into two seperate robots, as he so often did, but this time Sigma was more powerful. He pointed his fist at the two, and fired spikes from them. The spikes hit their mark, blowing up both targets. They were insects to him. And insects couldn't harm him.     "Fire!"     He looked up to see a barrage of fire from a number of Maverick Hunters, but these attacks seemed to be more powerful. Obviously, there were more of Light's designs. He looked up to see the black and orange robot who had saved Mega Man X, flying on what appeared to be batlike wings. He fired again, but missed the robots. He then turned to see something flying towards him very quickly. He fired at it, but couldn't lock on it. He realized it was a jet cycle, and then he recognized its pilot.     "Break Man?"     "A present from me to you!" he said, then jumped off. The cycle crashed into Sigma's right eye, shorting it out. Break Man fell towards the ground, but the bat-winged robot grabbed him and pulled him to safety, and dodged yet another attack from the monsterous robot. The two landed further away, next to a cloaked figure.     "Think it's time to play our ace?" Break Man asked.     "You bet." the cloaked man said, then threw away the cloak to reveal he was Mega Man.     "Rush-ADEPT MODE!"     Mega Man's faithful pet ran forward and merged with his master. The sudden appearance of the Blue Bomber froze all of Wily's former creations attacks.     "Mega Man!" a voice cried from above.     "Kor?" he said in shock.     "We have to get inside of him to stop it! Kor replied. "I don't like it any better than you do, but we can kill each other after we stop Gamma."     "How do we get inside?" Mega Man asked.     "Wily's old control chamber."     Mega Man nodded, then turned to his brother. "Need a lift?"     "Sure thing." With that, the four robots flew towards the control chamber, dodging fire from Sigma all the way. They flew through the shattered glass into the chamber.     "Where to now?" Mega Man asked Kor.     "Follow me." his shattered twin replied. 

    "This is the main network station of the CIGMA virus, and below us is the main reactor for Gamma. Break Man and I can handle this. You and Bass take out the reactor."     "You bet." Mega Man said, then fired at the ground, then he and Bass jumped through the hole.     "So, do we just aim and shoot?" Break Man asked.     "You'll wish it was that easy." The two turned to see the Nightmare Police, Bit and Byte, merged behind them. Beside them were Guts Man and Flash Man.     "Now this is gonna be fun." Kor said. "You ready?"     "You lead, Terminator." Break Man shot back.     Kor jumped forward and tackled the merged Nightmare Police robot, and the two flew back against the wall. Flash Man ran at Break Man, but he jumped out of the way, sending the robot against the computer that networked the CIGMA virus. Guts Man picked up a huge crate, preparing to throw it at Break Man. However, Break Man easily destroyed the wreckage. All he had to do was disarm Guts Man, and he could keep his distance.     Meanwhile, Kor threw Bit and Byte against a wall. The two robots disengaged on impact, and trained their weapons on Kor.     "Now THAT wasn't very smart." Kor said, then fired at the two of them. One blow destroyed Byte's sword, and the other disabled Bit's jet punch. He smiled as he saw his enemies disarmed.     "Beg for mercy yet?"     "We gotta retreat, Bit!"     "Righto, Byte. But you haven't seen the last of us!"     With that, the two robots teleported away.     "Almost too easy." he said, then turned to Break Man. "How you doin', Breaker?"     "Just fine." Break Man said, dodging another punch from Guts Man. The blow caught his scarf, however, and ripped it from his neck. Guts Man picked up the panelling on the floor and threw it at the two. Break Man tackled Kor to the ground, and the panel flew over them.     "Say," Kor asked, "You ever heard of a Fastball Special?"     "Yep."     "You throw, Guts Man'll catch." Break Man picked up Kor, and threw him directly at Guts Man. Kor rolled into a ball and hit Guts Man. He flew through the side of Gamma and outward onto the street below.     "Yikes," Kor said, "That looked familiar."     "No problem." Break Man said. "We make a good team."     "Of course we do. We're almost brothers."     Behind the two, red triangles formed below Flash Man's eyes.


	14. Part Thirteen - Neverending War

Road of the Warrior, Part Thirteen

Part Thirteen-Neverending War

    "Ah, I was wondering when you..." Doctor Wily began, then saw the blue robot behind Bass. It was impossible, but there he was.     Despite the beard and shaved head and missing years, Mega Man knew the face of his enemy. It was Wily. It could be no one else.     "Mega Man."     "Wily."     "I should have known you'd return from the dead to cause me trouble again."     "It ends here and now, Wily."     "I believe we've played this game before, Rock." Wily said, then nodded. "But this time I brought help." From the sides, Vile and Zero walked out.     "Zero!" Bass said, taking on Vector Phi's voice. "What are you doing?"     "Returning to the side I've always been fated to fight on." Zero shot back.     "Enough talk." Mega Man said, then fired at the two robots. Zero jumped at him and tackled him, sending him rolling on the ground. Bass fired at Vile, who jumped to the side and returned fire. Wily quickly ducked for cover behind a support column.     "You're the clone of Break Man, aren't you?" Mega Man asked as the two rolled back and forth, trying to the best position for the attack.     "You guessed it." Zero shot back, "And I'm the guy who's going to kill you. It's too bad too, gramps, 'cause you were a good friend...when you were still X, anyway."     "You were a good friend too, Zero," Mega Man said, then kicked him off, "But to save humanity, I will destroy you, if I have to."     "You think I'm gonna give up?" Zero said, drawing his beam sabre.     "I was kinda hoping that you would."     "Forget it." Zero said, then sliced at Mega Man. The beam scorched Mega Man's armor, but the Blue Bomber only jumped off Zero and grabbed hold of the handle of the beam sabre.     "What are you doing?"     "Evening the odds." Mega replied, and a blue beam sabre extended from his hand. 

    "Break Man, look out!" Kor yelled, and Break Man dodged Flash Man's charge. He grinned at the two, the signatures of the CIGMA virus now on his face. Flash Man fired wildly at the two, but they easily dodged his strikes. Sigma was obviously meeting a lot of resistance from Flash Man.     "Cutting beam!" Flash Man yelled, and the beam shot in front of the two robots.     "He missed!" Kor laughed.     "Uh, no, he didn't." Break Man said as he saw the beam circle around them. The floor beneath them began to creak.     "I think we're goin' down!" Kor yelled as the floor caved in beneath them. Sigma smiled, and jumped through the hole he had made. 

    The blast from Vile staggered Bass, and it took him a second to recover his bearings. He heard rumbling from above, and looked up. To his horror, he saw a large amount of debris screaming towards Mega Man.     "Look out!" he said, and shoved him out of the way. Only a second later, the debris flew downward and crushed him. On top, Kor and Break Man looked around very dazed, and seconds later Flash Sigma jumped down behind them.     "Ah! My trecherous Mega Man clone and Proto Man." Wily said upon seeing them.     "Don't call me that." Break Man warned.     "Hey, I'm offended by being called a clone." Kor retorted. "I've worked hard to establish my own identity."     "Vile, Sigma-Destroy them!" Wily commanded. He turned to see Vile, who was now holding his head in obvious pain. Memories rushed back to him. Of the final battle, of how Wily set a program in him so long ago. To steal the cleansing virus from the lab site, to infect Sigma with it, and then format his memory. A suicide mission, in an attempt to defeat Mega Man. It had been Wily all along, he was responsible for all it...     "What are you waiting for?" Wily demanded.     "Vile!" Flash Man said. "This is Lord Sigma commanding you to..." However, the robot was cut off when a blast from Vile's shoulder cannon blew his head off. He fell to the ground, destroyed.     "Vile, you have betrayed me!" Wily screamed.     "Only after you betrayed me!" Vile shot back.     "Kids, let's not fight." Zero said, then fired at the vulnerable Vile. The shot blasted a hole straight through him, and he fell to the ground, mortally damaged.     "Hey Zero," Kor said, making the Reploid turn around, "Catch."     He fired directly at Zero's face, in the same location he had been damaged five hundred years ago. Now, he would give his own twin the same scar. "Finish it Mega Man!"     Mega Man nodded, then threw his beam sabre at the center of Zero's chest. It impacted and hit directly on his reactor. The chain reaction sent Zero through Gamma's chest and towards the pavement below. However, he exploded long before he hit the ground. Mega Man spun around to see Wily gone.     "He escaped." Mega Man said.     "This suprises you?" Kor said with a grin.     "Vile!" Break Man said, and the three ran over to him. He was still alive, barely.     "M...Mega....I'm sorry...I didn't know..."     "Didn't know what?"     With that, Vile pulled off his helmet. Beneath it was a face with long blonde hair and the right side of its face scarred like Kor's.     "Zero?" Mega Man asked.     "Yes." he said.     "We...have to destroy the reactor..." Vile said, "But...blasters won't do. It needs a larger explosion...I can set off...my own reactor..."     "No!" Break Man said. "Doctor Light can fix you."     "Too late..." Vile replied. "I have to set off the reaction...now...destroy Sigma and this monster...and I have to do it now..."     "Thank you for helping us, Vile." Mega Man said. "I won't forget this."     "Not much time..." Vile said.     "You two get out of here." Mega Man said.     "What are you going to do?" Break Man asked. "You're NOT pulling that crap again."     "I'm not." he said, then looked towards a pile of rubble. "I have to help...a friend."     The two robots could only nod, and left through the hole Zero had made. Mega quickly threw aside the debris to get to Bass. He could hear the hum of Vile's reactor, and increased the speed of his digging. He threw aside a large panel and saw the robot, damaged but still moving.     "I thought...you didn't care." Bass said with a grin.     "I don't." Mega Man shot back, picking him up. "But Treble's my buddy."     Bass smiled as Mega Man ran towards the hole to the outside. The explosion went off, sending the two robots flying outside. Mega Man activated Rush's jets, and the two flew away just as Gamma Sigma's reaction went off.     "No!" Sigma cried. "I am immortal! I am..." With that, the explosion engulfed him, taking several evacuated city blocks with him.


	15. Epilogue One - A Family Reunited

Road of the Warrior, Epilogue One

Epilogue One-A Family Reunited

    "Once again," Roll said, "You all had a big adventure and I wasn't a part of it."     "Hey," Break Man said with a fiendish grin, "At least you weren't tied up this time."     "But maybe later." Bass chimed in. Roll smacked him for his comment.     "It's funny, isn't it, how after five hundred years, things are back exactly the way they were when we left off." Mega Man said.     "Except Wily's army's a lot bigger this time." Phaelin offered.     "Thanks for the encouraging words, Phaelin." Mega Man shot back.     "Now this is cause for a bodacious celebration." Quint said, walking in with a cake and a bowl of punch.     "You realize Reploids can't eat, don't you Quint?" Enker asked.     "Ah man, I knew there was something I wasn't thinking of!"     "Well now," Doctor Light's holographic form said, walking over, "It is a cause for celebration. Our family is back together, and even bigger now."     "Well then," Break Man said, pouring glasses of punch, "Here's to family."     Mega Man took one. "It's the thought that counts, guys."     "Well then, I propose a toast," Terra said, "To the Light Brigade!"     "Here's to Vile." Mega Man said.     "And here's to Kor," Enker said, "Wherever he is."     "Things certainly are going to be interesting from here on out." Mega Man said.


	16. Epilogue Two - The Circle

Road of the Warrior, Epilogue Two

Epilogue Two-The Circle

    "Where am I?"     "You were damaged in the battle, Zero." Wily said. "But I was able to rebuild you. And I even made you more powerful than before."     "What happened to my face?"     "I couldn't repair it. You'll have to repay your brother for it someday."     "That I will." Zero said, clenching his fist and looking over his new body. The shoulder cannon was a nice addition.     "Here you go." he said, handing Zero a helmet. "You're a new Reploid, Zero."     "Yeah." Zero said, and pulled the helmet on. "But from now on you can call me... VILE!" 

**THE END**


End file.
